The 2022 Winter Paralympics are currently taking place in Beijing, and Team GB will make Paralympic history with its biggest team set to compete. 25 athletes are competing in various sports from Para Alpine Skiing to Wheelchair Curling, and with GB having already claimed five medals as of 8th March, they have a strong chance of beating their record seven medals won at the last Paralympic games in PyeongChang (2018). With this year’s athletes breaking a number of firsts for Team GB, here are just seven of the medal hopefuls.

Menna Fitzpatrick- Para Alpine Skiing
Fitzpatrick is Team GB’s most decorated Winter Paralympian. She is competing in the women’s visually impaired division alongside new guide Katie Guest. After making her official debut in 2012, she has since gone on to make GB Paralympic history, as the first British skier to win the overall World Cup Visually Impaired title in 2016. This was followed up with an incredible six medals at PyeongChang 2018, including gold in the women’s slalom, which she will be looking to defend. She has already claimed one silver and one bronze in Beijing so far, and will be on the hunt for more in the coming days.

Millie Knight – Para Alpine Skiing
Knight is another Para Alpine Skiing star competing in the women’s visually impaired division, alongside her guide Brett Wild. After a previous successful run at the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympics where she secured three medals (two silver and one bronze), she will return for a third time at this year’s Winter Paralympics. So far she has already claimed one medal, a bronze in the Women’s Downhill, marking GB’s first podium place of the games.

Scott Meenagh – Para Nordic Skiing
Meenagh will be competing in both the men’s seated Cross Country Skiing and the Biathlon in this year’s games. Despite only starting Nordic Skiing in 2014 and making the full-time switch from rowing in 2016, he became the first British Para Nordic Skier at his level to represent the country. Since 2018, he has gone on to occupy a number of top 10 positions.

James Barnes-Miller – Para Snowboard
In 2018 Miller became the first Para-snowboarder to represent Team GB at the Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang. It was here he achieved seventh place in the Snowboard Cross and 10th place in the Banked Slalom. Most recently in the 2021 World Championships he took home three medals, a silver and two bronze medals for Snowboard Cross, Banked Slalom and as part of the Snowboard Cross team.

Neil Simpson – Para Alpine Skiing
Neil Simpson competes in the men’s visually impaired division, guided by his brother Andrew Simpson. After previously expressing that an ambition of his was to compete in Beijing 2022, he has taken to the snow for his first Paralympic Games. This comes after a successful run at the 2018 British Para Alpine Championships, which saw him win two gold medals. It has been an extremely successful games for Simpson already, with a gold and a silver within the opening four days.

Gregor Ewan – Wheelchair Curling
Ewan has a rather long list of previous medals under his belt, having won bronze with his team in Sochi 2014, his first Winter Paralympics. He also won silver and bronze at the World Championships in 2011 and 2017. This year he will return with his team, joining Hugh Nibloe and newcomers David Melrose, Meggan Dawson-Farrell, and Gary Smith on the ice.

Hope Gordon – Para Nordic Skiing
This will be hope Gordon’s Paralympic debut, as she becomes GB’s first female to compete in Para Nordic Skiing. She enjoyed recent success in Para Canoe at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships. This saw her achieve two silver medals. Only a month later, she took the snow for her first time in the World Championships for Para Nordic Skiing and the Cross Country Sprint.

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